I am an actual City Guide in my hometown, Salzburg. I offer tip-based tours. Last summer I set myself a challenge to offer at least one guided tour a day. I kept that schedule for 100 days in a row. Every morning I met with 15-30 people at 9 am and we walked together for 1,5 hours.
As a Guide, I do not only need to know my city. I also need others to tell me more about my city.
Salzburg is small. There are only 150.000 people living here and even a lot less in the old town, in the area that is relevant to tourists. By sharing experiences, local guides on Google maps helped me to experience places I have not been to yet.
My goal, however, is to personally visit as many restaurants, cafes, and shops as I can. I am a collector in that sense. And because I benefited from the local guides community and the experiences people shared, I give back by sharing my experiences as well. That’s how community works, right?